His Grace the Right Reverend BishopNicholas (Ono) of Japan was consecrated as the ruling bishop of the Church of Japan in 1941 when the militaristic Japanese government required the heads of all religious groups in Japan to be Japanese nationals. He was the first Japanese national to be consecrated an Orthodox bishop.

Life

Future Bishop Nicholas was born Kiichi Yamazaki on September 8, 1872, in the village of Kannami in Shizuoka Prefecture. When he was still in elementary school, his older brother, Yamazaki Kenzabur